Stringed instruments traditionally have been constructed of wood, but also have been fabricated from plastics, molded composite materials, and combinations of such materials. A conventional stringed instrument can be electric as shown in FIG. 1, or acoustic (not shown) and typically includes a body 10, a neck 12, a head 14 (sometimes called a “headstock”), a heel 26, a sound board 16, a fingerboard 18 (sometimes called a “fret board”), strings 20, a bridge 22 and a sound hole (not shown). In acoustic stringed instruments the interior of body 10 is hollow, and forms a resonant cavity, often called a “sound chamber.” In acoustic stringed instruments, the vibration of strings 20 is transmitted through bridge 22 to the body via sound board 16. In turn, the vibration of sound board 16 vibrates air inside the sound chamber, and produces the sound that is projected from the sound hole. In electric guitars, the body is usually solid, and can be wood or molded plastic. Pickups 24, and control knobs 28 can also differentiate the electric guitar from acoustic guitar, but in general everything else is the same.
In many conventional stringed instruments, the various components are constructed separately, and then joined to form a finished instrument. Because the structural integrity of a stringed instrument affects the tonal quality and sound output of the instrument, stringed instruments made from separately joined parts experience some loss in sound quality. In addition, in many conventional stringed instruments, the neck 12 and head 14 are made of solid wood preferably mahogany or rosewood, but other woods, such as maple, koa, wenge, ash or walnut can be used, which decreases the volume and tonal range of the instrument because the added weight dampens resonance.